


Time and Time Again

by fangirloftoomany (yixingminseokjongdae)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, Summer Romance, alternate universe - lifeguard, slight caleo, slight frazel, slight pipeyna, slight solangelo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-09
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-05-05 19:35:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5387738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yixingminseokjongdae/pseuds/fangirloftoomany
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Percy is a lifeguard at the local pool and Annabeth is the pretty girl with her nose in a book who's always there but never goes swimming.  Inspired by a post of PJO imagines on tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. timing is everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> awkward college-age dorks at a pool over the summer. sue me.

Percy gets to work early on opening day so he can do laps before the pool opens to the public like he’s done every summer for the past three years. Reyna, his tough manager who he’s somehow managed to befriend, lets him in with a smirk and toss of her hair. Once he’s done and dried off, he climbs up in his usual chair between the diving board and the two lap lanes and gives her the signal to open up.

He’s had this job ever since he was a junior in high school and needed some extra cash to make sure he could afford his equipment for the swim team. Now that he’s 20 and just finished his sophomore year of college, he always comes back to the pool over the summer to escape the stress of school.

Around 10 is when the first few people trickle in, a couple of families with small children who splash around in the shallow end for a while, and a girl about Percy’s age in white shorts and an orange t-shirt who sets up shop on a lounge chair almost directly across from where he’s sitting. He’s pretty sure he’s never seen her at the pool before, and so he watches as she pulls out a reasonably thick book from her tote bag and sits down, then removes her baseball cap. Her blonde curls shine in the sun, and Percy notices a couple of strands that have escaped her ponytail and frame her face very nicely. She leans back on her chair, eyes hidden behind a pair of sunglasses, and opens her book. He quickly looks back to the kids in the shallow end, mentally chastising himself for losing focus on the job.

Annabeth feels eyes on her, and as she opens her book she surveys the area. Her attention catches on the lifeguard in the chair across the pool from her. He’s wearing the standard lifeguard-red swim trunks but has a wonderfully clashing blue tank top on as well. She peeks over her book as he runs a hand through his messy black hair, hair long enough to feel through her fingers but not too long. (She blushes at the thought and banishes it to a corner of her mind as she returns to her book.) A couple hours later, she looks up for a break and watches as he scans the pool, then admires the play of muscles in his arms as he swings himself down from his chair and heads into the small lifeguard office. She figures she’s gotten enough sun for the day, so she closes her book, puts it back in her bag, and stands up to leave. She’ll be back tomorrow – she finds the pool oddly serene. And having a cute lifeguard doesn’t hurt, she thinks.

Percy comes back out of the office with his lunch to see that the chair where the blonde had been sitting is now empty. He brushes off the feeling of disappointment that washes over him, goes to his usual table at the little café where his two friends Leo and Hazel work, and eats his sandwich and homemade blue chocolate chip cookies while catching up with them.

She comes in the next day at right around the same time and puts her stuff on the exact same chair as yesterday. Percy determinedly avoids watching her until she catches his eye on his next scan of the pool, crossing her long, tan legs over each other as she turns a page in her book. He swallows and tears his gaze away from her. He purposely doesn’t notice her again until he comes out of the office for his lunch break (although he’s _known_ that she’s been there all morning, he’s just attempted to ignore that fact) and sees that she’s still there. He heads over to the café, his flip-flops making slapping sounds on the concrete, but she doesn’t look up at all. He sits down at his table, pushes her out of his head, gets out his lunch, and grins at Hazel, who’s just plopped herself across from him.

Oh, Annabeth notices him. During her two years at college in California, she’s mastered the art of people-watching in sunglasses. She could barely pay attention to her book once he had gotten down from his chair again and walked out of the office with a brown paper bag in hand. Her eyes follow him as he marches over to the café, his flip-flops obnoxiously loud, and sits down at a table near the window, pulling out a sandwich, chips, and a baggie with – she sits up and fully looks now, because there’s no way those are actually blue cookies. But he takes one out and bites into it, a look of bliss on his face, and she sees a short girl with wild brown curls sit down across from him, a huge smile on her face. He opens his eyes and grins back. The flash of white teeth sets Annabeth’s mind into overdrive, and she decides that she can’t stay here any longer today.

Percy sees her every day for the rest of the week, always coming in around 10 and leaving during his lunch break. He’s mildly curious about her now, but he has no idea how to approach her. She never actually gets in the pool, so he couldn’t ‘help’ her, and he’s too far away to see if she’s reading anything he might know. (Not that he knows a lot about reading, but his stepdad’s an English teacher and Percy has absorbed some of the information that Paul is always spouting.) She’s there every day again the next week, but she stays longer. Percy notices that she’s still sitting there when he climbs back into his chair after lunch on Tuesday. And on Friday, she only leaves when Reyna rings the ‘thirty-minutes-to-close’ bell at 4:30.

The next Wednesday, Percy sleeps through his alarm after movie night with Leo and Hazel and only wakes up when Paul starts up the lawn mower outside his window. He looks at his alarm clock – 8:45, _shit_ – and throws on his clothes, dashes off a text to Reyna about oversleeping, and sprints outside to his bike. He makes it to the pool in record time, just a couple of minutes after 9, and apologizes profusely to Reyna and his fellow lifeguard Piper (who smacks him in the stomach for being late and interrupting her gossip time, because _I just got back from school last weekend and this is my first day at work and I haven’t seen Reyna all year_ ) and climbs up on his chair. Reyna appears next to him after about five minutes. “Do I have to stay late so you can do laps?” He looks down at her, thinking.

“No, I wouldn’t want to keep you from going home. I’ll do them during lunch.” He sees her eyes soften, but the rest of her face doesn’t move.

“Alright then.” She makes to walk away when he calls after her.

“Are you and Piper going to be busy during lunch?” She stops and glares up at him.

“Yes. I want to catch up with my friend. So no, neither of us will come out and time you.” He frowns, but only for a second.

“No worries. I’ll be okay without timing for one day.” She nods and walks away.

His lunch break comes and he gets down from his chair, ceding duty to Tyson, one of the newbies. Percy’s known Tyson for a few years now and feels a sense of big brotherly pride as he watches the beefy kid survey the pool. Sure, Tyson might be taller and way stronger than him, but the kid’s got a soft heart, and Percy has watched over him to make sure no one dares even look at him funny. He rolls his shoulders as he heads to the far lap lane in the deep end, pulls his tank over his head, and dives in.

When the cute lifeguard deviates from his routine, Annabeth’s interest is piqued. Her eyes follow him over the top of her book as he walks over to the deep end lane. When he yanks off his tank top, however, she can’t help but gape. The guy is built like a marble statue of a Greek god, an image that has now seared itself into her brain. She sees enough of the Greek images during her ancient architecture classes, she never imagined she would see one in person. He dives into the water, making barely a splash, and she lowers her book to see him better. She watches as he slices through the water at a speed she didn’t think possible, executes flip turn after flip turn as he reaches each end of the lane, and then his hand hits the wall and he comes to a stop. Her cheeks are flaming, she knows it, as she continues to gaze at him. He stretches his arms up, out of the water so Annabeth can see the tone of his shoulders, and pushes off again, this time on his back. He goes through every stroke, his speed remaining impressive, and she can’t help that her eyes are glued to him. When he finally stops again after completing – oh, maybe ten lengths doing fly (Annabeth’s lost count of how many laps he’s done in total) and hoists himself out of the pool, her mind goes blank. The water sluices off his sculpted chest, and his water-darkened red trunks accentuate his tan skin. She can tell he’s tall, now that he’s not completely across the pool from her. Good god, he is attractive, she thinks. She can’t stay here, not now that he’s completely ruined her concentration for the day. She gathers up her things, throwing her book into her bag, grabbing her Yankees hat, and in her haste her sunglasses fall off her head. She whips around to grab them but he’s already there, picking them up and holding them out to her. “You dropped these.” She glances up, startled, and looks directly into a pair of sea-green eyes.

“Thanks.” She looks down and takes her sunglasses out of his hands, trying so hard to not touch more of him than she needs to, and puts them back on her head.

“No prob,” he answers. She gives him a small smile and a quick once-over (water still dripping off him, those gorgeous eyes, wet black hair sticking up every which way like he ran his hands through it once he got out of the pool, his toned body, and she _really needs to stop looking_ ) picks up her bag, and heads out.

Percy watches her leave, the plip-plip-plip of water droplets on concrete almost forgotten. He can still feel the tingles in his hand from where she brushed it taking her sunglasses back, can still see those astonishingly gray eyes looking right into his. She’s all he can think about as he towels off and quickly eats his lunch. Once he climbs back up in his chair, he attempts to push her into a corner of his mind as he focuses back on the kids in the water. But thoughts of her niggle at him for the rest of the day. And he didn’t even get her name.

He manages to get up for morning laps on Thursday and Friday, but Saturday morning Sally makes her signature blue waffles and he can never pass those up, especially on his long day. He gets to the pool in time for open, but Reyna stalks over to his chair almost immediately. “Jackson,” she growls, “I am not staying late for your laps. The summer camp starts up on Monday, which means lots of screaming children, and I need all the sleep I can get before then.” He grins down at her.

“Did my key request go through then?” She blinks. “I asked for my own key so I could do laps without you being here, Reyna,” he explains. She blinks again. His grin gets wider – no one manages to shock Reyna Arellano into silence.

“Give me five minutes.” She practically sprints into the office. Percy leans back in his chair, a pleased smirk resting on his face. He checks his waterproof watch when he sees her walking back towards him.

“Five minutes on the dot.” She just glares at him and tosses a little package up into his lap.

“Don’t you ever check your work mailbox, Jackson?” He opens it and pulls out a bronze key.

“Honestly, no. But I also didn’t expect it to go through this quick.” She shakes her head and graces him with a rare smile.

“Thanks, Jackson.” He grins cheekily at her and waves his new key.

“I can lock up tonight, so you can go whenever you’re done.” She rolls her eyes and walks away.

He plays with his new key for the rest of the day, showing it off proudly to Leo and Hazel at lunch. Hazel exclaims over it, seeming like a proud mama even though she’s four years younger than him – but that’s how she’s always been – and Leo just grins his elfish grin and ruffles Percy’s hair (even though he’s probably a foot shorter than Percy, his footstool at the stovetop gives him a few inches. Plus the kid’s got long arms.) They chat for a bit about the upcoming weeks of summer camp kids coming in and the impending busy season when all the schools let out and families come to their summer homes, and then they all get back to work. After he solves a dispute between two kids about a pool noodle, getting another one out of storage so that each of them went off with a smile, he notices the blonde girl in what he’s come to think of as her chair, still reading. He watches her out of the corner of his eye and notes how she shifts her position as he walks back to his chair. So she’s watching him too. Interesting, he thinks.

Annabeth is jerked out of sleep by someone shaking her gently. Her eyes fly open and meet the sea-green ones that have drifted through her mind for the past three days. He blinks, swallows, and says, “Sorry to have woken you up, but the pool is closing.” She sits up and he backs away from her as to not bump heads. The sky is a gorgeous mix of orange, pink, and blue, and she gasps as she looks at her watch.

“The sun’s setting? It’s that late?”

He nods. “On Saturdays we close at sunset.” She blinks at the time and slumps back into her chair.

“I don’t really want to go home yet.” Now why did you say that to a complete stranger, Annabeth, she chastises herself. The lifeguard runs a hand through his hair – it seems to be a habit – and before she has a chance to sit back up he blurts out, “You don’t have to leave.”

She gapes at him for a second. “But you just said the pool is closed!” He smirks and pulls out a key.

“But I’m locking up tonight. And I was planning on getting some practice in, so you don’t have to leave until I do.” She tilts her head and looks at him.

“Practice as in laps?” His cheeks turn light pink and he stuffs his hands into his shorts pockets.

“Yeah, I, uh, need to keep my times up. For the swim team. At my college.” She nods in understanding.

“I see.” She reaches back for her book when he looks at her again.

“Hey, if you don’t mind, would you, um, time me?” She puts her book down and stands.

“Sure.” A real smile lights his face.

“Let me go grab a timer.” He jogs off to the office and she puts her head in her hands. What did she just agree to? She drops her arms as he jogs back and hands her a manual timer. “So, this button is to start, and then every time I touch a wall, you press this button for a lap, and when I come back to you and touch the wall with no turn you push this button to stop.” He points at different buttons and she nods as he explains, then he drops the timer in her hand and gestures to the deep end lane. “Ready?” She nods again and follows him to the edge of the pool. He pulls his tank top off and stands with his toes curled over the edge. “By the way, I’m Percy,” he says, his eyes meeting hers again before diving in. Annabeth instinctively pushes the start button while her mind is still processing the information. _Percy_.

She sees him turn and pushes the lap button, her eyes glued to him. He completes four laps, then stops and hoists himself out of the pool to see the times. She doesn’t say anything as he reads them but when a frown settles over his face she can’t help herself. “Not your best?”

He shakes his head. “Not even close.”

“Well, try again then.” She points to the pool. He smirks at her and dives back in. They continue until Percy gets a time he’s okay with on each stroke – takes him four sets for crawl, two sets for backstroke, two for breast, and three for fly – and then he says that he’s done for the night. She gathers her stuff as he dries off, and in the increasing darkness she studies him as he towels his hair. He slides on his flip flops and motions for her to wait, so she pulls out her phone and texts her dad to let him know she’s on her way home. No response comes in, so she starts scrolling through social media when Percy appears at her side, wearing a dark blue t-shirt and holding a full backpack. She falls into step with him as they stroll towards the exit when he breaks the silence.

“So, any tips you can give me to help my speed?” She looks at him, surprised he’d ask something like that.

“I know almost nothing about swimming.”

“But you watched me practice. And - ” He plays with his watch. “You seem smart. So I’m asking your opinion.” She glances at him again. He’s avoiding her gaze, looking at his feet.

So she looks straight ahead and answers, “I think you’re overthinking your strokes. You obviously know what you’re doing in the water so let muscle memory take over. But you need to kick more on fly, you’re using your shoulders too much.” She could hear him swallow once she finished talking.

“Thanks. You sound just like my coach.” She saw his grin out of the corner of her eye.

“No problem.” They reach the gate and Percy holds it open for her, then pulls out his key as he closes it. Once he’s locked it, he turns to her again.

“Thanks for timing me today. I really appreciate it.”

Annabeth smiles. “Anything I can do to help.” She looks down and realizes she’s still holding his timer, so she unwraps the strap from her wrist and holds it out for him to take. He extends his hand, and as she drops it into his palm, she says, “Oh, and by the way, I’m Annabeth.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my first real fic!  
> I'm so excited about this you guys have no idea.  
> hope you enjoyed it :)  
> all the love  
> ~ fangirloftoomany


	2. stormclouds in your eyes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth meets some of Percy's friends. She and Percy are friends. That's it. She swears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I WROTE ANOTHER PART. W H A T.

They settle into a routine.  Percy gets a little more sleep in the mornings and eats breakfast with his mom before leaving for work since he stays late and does his laps with Annabeth ( _it fits her,_ he thinks after she tells him her name, _something pretty that stands out in a crowd_ ).  Sometimes the two of them chat after he’s finished, and that’s how Percy learns she goes to college in LA but she’s always loved New York City and that Annabeth’s lived in Richmond, Virginia, and San Francisco before her family moved to Long Island two years ago.  She tells him that she’s an architecture and ancient history major, which Percy laughs about for a bit because ancient history is the minor to his marine biology major, and they share horror stories about their professors for an entire hour after that.  

The summer camps start and they all have use of the pool for activities, so Percy’s job triples in the span of twenty minutes.  He makes sure the kids don’t splash too much near the edge where Annabeth always sits with either a book or her tablet as he’s gotten a weird vibe from her about the water (and he doesn’t want her things to get waterlogged), but when the older ones that he’s known for a while whap him with a pool noodle at Piper’s encouragement, he joins the fight with enthusiasm.  Their counselor waves them away after a while, and as Percy hoists himself out of the pool, grin still plastered on his face, he catches Annabeth watching him.  He grins wider and wiggles his fingers at her before getting back in his chair.

A couple weeks after that, on a Tuesday, Reyna takes up the first hour the pool is open talking to him about the other lifeguards.  Percy knows she’s only doing it because he’s been there the longest, and she seems to trust him about these sorts of matters.  She’s been making sure there are three or four lifeguards on duty at all times, so Percy usually shares his shifts with Piper, Tyson, and his other friend Will, whose sunny personality never fails to make everyone around him laugh and who is always quick with the first aid kit whenever one of the kids scrapes themselves along the side of the pool.  She asks his opinion on some of the newer recruits who are still in training with her and Piper, and then goes back into her office once the sun starts really beating down around 10.  The first of the camp groups start to trickle in, and Percy shades his eyes from the sun as he scans.  Annabeth is already settled in her chair, but she moves as his gaze passes over her spot. He watches as she digs in her bag, pulls out a bottle of sunscreen, and starts applying.  He can feel a wave of heat unrelated to the sun rush through him, so he yanks his eyes away from her and looks back down at the water, trying to calm the flush he knows is on his cheeks.

He spends the rest of his morning alternately watching her lie on her chair reading and watching all of the summer camp kids to make sure they all stay safe.  He hasn’t talked to any of the counselors yet because their campers have kept him way too busy, but he sees a few familiar faces from last year and waves.  A tall Asian guy whose name he thinks is Frank raises a hand in greeting from where he’s standing and talking to Reyna, who’s finally emerged from the office with sunglasses and a floppy hat, and the Stoll brothers (whose names are Connor and Travis, but he can never remember which one is which) just grin at him.  When he gets off for lunch, Will pulls him and Piper to a giant table where everyone’s gathered and they all reintroduce themselves, with much laughter as they recall stories from years past.  Percy ends up sandwiched between Leo and Frank – whose name he remembered correctly – and shakes hands with the blond tennis instructor named Jason who somehow knows Leo very well, and the skinny dark-haired guy following him named Nico who Jason says teaches rock-climbing and supervises other activities.  Percy grins at the table; he’s happy to be back here with his friends.

 

Annabeth watches as almost every lifeguard and counselor gather around one table, all laughing and talking and hugging.  She sees Percy squished between a buff Asian guy and a lean, hyperactive guy with curly brown hair who continually jumps up to give someone else a hug.  A tall blond ruffles his hair, and Annabeth thinks that he looks strangely familiar before he turns away to talk to a girl with a long dark braid who Annabeth knows is one of Percy’s fellow lifeguards and who always likes to encourage the campers to attack him with any pool toy they have their hands on.  Her eyes drift back to Percy just to see him grin at everyone at the table, and her heart flip-flops at the sight.  Suddenly lonely, she whips out her phone and texts Thalia.

**A: Hey :)**

The response comes in almost immediately.

_T:  The only time you text me over break is when you’re stuck on a homework problem.  And you better not be doing homework, it’s barely the end of June.  What’s up?  Don’t think I’m fooled by your smiley._

Annabeth smiles as she reads the text.  She’s known Thalia forever – and the older girl knows her almost too well.

**A:  You know me too well :P  If you really want to know –**

Annabeth stops typing for a moment and thinks.  She was going to tell Thalia about Percy during their nightly Skype session tonight, she might as well tell her now.

**A: I met a guy.**

Her phone pings the second after she sends the message.

_T: WHAT????!!!!_

**A: …. :)**

_T:  OMG, Chase, finally.  Deets.  Now._

Her grin gets wider.  She won’t tell Thalia his name yet, because she knows how much Thalia likes to stalk people on all forms of social media, but she can describe him.

**A:  He’s a swimmer, tall, black hair, sea-green eyes.  Super nice, funny, sarcastic, likes ancient history, goes to school in NYC (!!!!), has a ton of friends.**

_T:  Annabeth.  I need a name._

She can practically see Thalia’s eye roll and hear her exasperated sigh.  God, she misses her.

**A: His name’s Percy.  I got nothing on a last name.  Please please please don’t go stalking.**

When no answer comes in, Annabeth frowns at the screen and types another message.

**A: Thalia Grace, I swear to God, I will kill you if you go all stalker creepy on him.**

She puts her phone back into her bag and leans back on her chair.  She tries to spot Percy again but he’s still surrounded by people, so she opens her book back up and attempts to forget herself in the words.

 

Percy climbs back into his chair once his break is over, still riding a high after a laughter-filled lunch.  He is surprised that he genuinely _likes_ everyone that was present, and he thinks that the tennis guy, Jason, could easily become a good friend.  He remembers noticing Will constantly looking at Nico, who was basically Jason’s shadow, and Hazel blushing every time she walked by him and Frank, so he fully intends to give them a little bit of grief later.  After he settles a few more disputes over pool toys and reminds a couple of rowdy campers that running and backflips are both against the rules, his eyes catch on Annabeth, who is holding her book open with one hand and frowning at her phone with the other.  She looks like she’s barely moved since he last checked on her before his lunch break, and he’s a little worried that she’s not eating.  So he gets down after telling Piper’s protege Lacey, who’d asked him to give her a couple tips, that she’s getting much better at streamlining her dives and walks around the deep end, high fiving the kids waiting in line at the diving board, and stops in front of Annabeth’s chair.  She raises her sunglasses and glares up at him.  “You’re blocking my sunshine.”

He grins.  “I’m not apologizing.”  She rolls her eyes and looks back down at her phone.  Percy hears her sigh, so he sits down on the edge of her chair and scans the pool again.  “Wanna talk about it?”

She looks back up at him and he can just tell she’s annoyed at something.  “It’s nothing.  I asked my friend not to do something and I think she’s doing it anyway.”  He smirks at that.

“Sounds like something I would do.”

Annabeth’s gray eyes meet his.  They’ve never looked like stormclouds until today - and Percy realizes how hard her stare can be.  If this is her annoyed, she must be frightening when she’s angry.  “Really?”

He gulps.  “Well, depends on the situation.” He meets her eyes and shrugs, trying to lighten her mood.  “And who’s asking.”  She cracks a small smile at that.

“Well, it’s my best friend, and she knows I hate when she does this, but she always does it.  And this is really the first time where I’ve asked her not to because I honestly don’t want her to do it, and I haven’t heard anything back yet.”  Percy tilts his head to the right and crosses his arms.

“What does she do that’s so bad?”

Annabeth turns slightly pink and tucks a stray hair behind her ear, looking down at her book again.  “She Internet-stalks people.  Like every person she’s ever met, and every person I’ve ever met, and anyone I even mention in conversation.”  

“Oh. That’s actually not what I expected you to say,” Percy says, smiling.  “I thought you were going to say she does hard drugs or something.”  Annabeth giggles and he’s extremely proud of himself for making her laugh when she’s clearly annoyed.  And he’s not going to lie - her laugh is adorable.  He wants to hear more of it.

“Yeah, no, not nearly as bad as that.  But it’s still pretty bad.  Especially when she then proceeds to tell me every single piece of information she’s gathered and then I have to pretend I know nothing about the person the next time I talk to them.”  She grimaces and leans back against her chair, putting her hands behind her head and looking up to the sky.   

“That does sound awkward.”  He runs a hand through his hair and looks down at his toes, wiggling them in his flip-flops.  Annabeth snorts a little and he glances back at her to have his eyes catch on her blonde hair, winking at him in the sun.  She continues to stare at the puffs of white clouds as she says, “You have no idea,” giving him an opportunity to really look at her.  He’s struck anew by how pretty she is, and getting to know her better has not helped him in the slightest.  He looks away, feeling his cheeks warm, when he sees the book she had been reading earlier lying next to her.  “You’re reading _Eragon_?”  he asks her, a little shocked.  He had not pegged her for a high fantasy reader.

Annabeth lowers her head and glances down at the blue paperback.  “Yeah,” she admits, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, “it’s one of my favorite series.”  Percy grins.

“No way!  It’s one of mine too,” he says, picking up the book and flipping to her bookmarked page.  “Oh, you’re only at Gil’ead?”  

Annabeth’s smile widens.  “Don’t worry, this is like my fifth reread.”

He closes the book and meets her eyes briefly.  “You know, I did not think you were the type that read fantasy like this.  What else have you been reading here?  Anything I might know?”  Annabeth’s eyes widen slightly.  “I actually didn’t peg you for a reader, Percy.”  

He shrugs.  “Glad to have surprised you.”  She blinks and scoots closer to him on the chair, scrolling through something on her phone.  Once she finds what she’s looking for, she shows him her phone screen.  Percy looks down to see a long list of titles, recognizing more than a few of them.  

“These are the ones that I wanted to read or reread over the summer, not including books for school,” she explains.  “The ones at the top are the books I’ve finished since I got home.”  

He points at the first three titles.  “Seriously?  This is some crazy variety, Chase,” he says, smirking at her.  She glares, but he can tell she’s amused.  

“What, it’s not normal to enjoy Sherlock Holmes, Harry Potter, and existentialist plays?”  She grins, her nose scrunching up, and Percy just wants to see her smile like that again and again.

“Maybe not extremely normal,” he responds, running a hand through his hair.  He sees her look at him out of the corner of his eye, so he turns back to her.

“What’s your favorite out of this list?  I could use a recommendation on what to read next once I re-finish _Inheritance_ ,” she asks, holding out her phone again.

He takes it and scans the list, thinking.  The letters jumble on a few unfamiliar titles so he reads them again, slower, committing the interesting ones to memory.  He’s not sure if _Grisha_ is a real word, or _Sensibility_ for that matter, and it takes him a few tries to decipher _Chronicles_ , but he finally narrows it down to two titles.

“Okay, so if you want to keep reading the fantasy stuff - which I think you should, it’s summer for crying out loud - I think _The Mortal Imstrunemts_ , sorry, _Instruments_ sounds interesting.  And if you don’t want fantasy…” He pauses and crinkles his brow at the two-word title.  “ _Jane_ \- Ire?”  Annabeth giggles, putting one hand over her mouth before answering, “Air.”

Percy smiles sheepishly.  “Yeah, that one.  My stepdad Paul always recommends it to his students if they want a, what were his words, ‘strong female character’ and ‘an engaging plot’.”  Annabeth cocks her head and Percy reads the unasked question in her eyes.  “English teacher.”  She nods and says, “Got it,” before grinning.

“Thanks, Percy.”  He smiles at her again.  Then he remembers why he originally came over when his stomach makes a rather interesting noise.  He glances at his watch, sees that it’s been more than two hours since his lunch break, and looks up at Annabeth.  “You hungry?  Because my stomach is sending me a signal or two.”

She looks down at her bag.  “I had a granola bar earlier, I’m okay.”  Percy rolls his eyes.

“That’s not enough food.  Come on, I’ll introduce you to Leo.  He makes great tacos.”  Annabeth lets him pull her off the chair and follows him over to the cafe area.  He waves her into a chair right by the window, then leans in and says, “Hey Valdez, get Annabeth here set up with some of your super-tacos.  I’ll be right back.” He grins at her.  “I gotta make sure my boss is cool with me taking a break.  Leo’s good company,” he raises his voice, “if you don’t mind dumb jokes and hyperactivity.”

 

Annabeth sees a long, skinny arm flip Percy off from the window.  She can’t see the guy it attaches to, but the Spanish she hears flowing from that direction (which she assumes is not very polite) makes her smile.  Percy runs a hand through his hair again and waves at her before jogging away to the office.

She gets bored after sitting there for a few minutes - the pool is much quieter now, the campers have all left and there are only a few families around, so she gets up and walks over to the counter to see into the kitchen.  A short, curly-haired guy whom she guesses is Leo dances around the stove, muttering to himself and occasionally stirring the pan of meat on the burner.  She grins and drums her fingers on the countertop just loud enough to make him start.  He swears audibly, whips around and points at her, eyes slightly wide.  “Don’t _do_ that to me, chica.  You must be Annabeth.”

“Guilty as charged,” she answers, glancing around.  “And I’m assuming you’re Leo.”  He nods, a spoon handle between his teeth, as he turns the heat down on the pan and throws in some veggies before taking the spoon out of his mouth and stirring.  Annabeth glances around the space behind the counter, trying to remember why he seems familiar, then finally realizing that he was sitting next to Percy at the counselors’ lunch.  Her eye catches on what looks like a machine plan, and she gestures to it, asking, “What are you designing?”  

Leo flips around to look at her and then at the plan.  “Oh, nothing extremely special,” he evades, pushing the paper back to the corner of the countertop.  

“That doesn’t exactly look like nothing,” she says.  He shrugs and continues to weave around the small kitchen, gathering up pots and vegetables and seemingly whatever he can lay his hands on.  She recognizes the evasive tactics, having employed them herself more than a fair amount of times, and crosses her arms before changing the subject.  “So how did you learn to cook?”

Leo drops a handful of chopped onion into his pan and calls back, “ _Mi madre_ taught me.  She also taught me everything she knows about mechanics, so if you ever have car troubles, I’m your man.”  He winks at her and then throws the green peppers he’d been chopping in the pan.  Annabeth smiles at that, and before she can ask another question the back kitchen door opens and the short, curly-haired girl she’d seen sitting with Percy at the start of the summer walks in.

“Hey, Leo,” she says, depositing her canvas bag on the left counter (where it settles with a fair amount of clanks) and grinning at him.  He pours some oil in his skillet and turns to her.

“Whatcha got for me today, Miss Metal Detector?”

The girl smacks his stomach as she walks by him to put her straw hat on a coat rack in the corner.  “You know I hate that nickname… repair boy,” she replies, and Leo crosses his arms and mock-pouts.

“But _you_ know that I am the SUPREME COMMANDER of Festus’ Lunch Shack!” He proclaims, and Annabeth has to hide her smile behind her hand.

“Ah, but I prefer Blue Bottom.” Percy’s voice rings out behind her and she turns to see him approaching.  “Hey, Hazel,” he adds, waving at the girl.

She puts down the piece of scrap metal she had been holding - Annabeth isn’t completely surprised that her bag is filled with scrap pieces, but she _is_ curious about what these two are doing with all of that metal and the interesting design of Leo’s she had seen earlier - and waves back, and is about to say hello when Leo cuts her off.  

“You promised we would never speak of that again, Aquaman,” he says, brandishing his spatula in Percy’s face.  Percy pushes the spatula away and groans.

“You know I hate Aquaman, right?”  Leo just grins.  The meat in the pan begins to sizzle, and Leo rushes back over to stir it.  He turns the heat off, whips out a couple tortillas, and scoops everything in, then sprinkles a generous amount of cheese on top and hands the plate to Annabeth.  

“Chef Leo’s famous tacos for the lady,” he says, and sweeps her a bow.  She smiles and bites in, swallows, and puts her taco down.

“These,” she says, looking straight at Leo (and _not_ at Percy in her peripheral vision, who’s grinning like a maniac), “are the best tacos I’ve ever had.”  Leo whoops with delight and scoops Hazel up in a hug.

“She likes them!  She likes them!”  This time Hazel smacks his chest.

“Put me down, Valdez,” she says, and Annabeth can tell she’s not very serious.  He listens, though, and grins at Percy and Annabeth before grabbing an armful of the scrap metal Hazel had put on the counter and dashing out the back door, throwing a “Thanks, Levesque” behind him.  

Annabeth picks up her taco and continues to eat, smiling to herself every time Percy or Hazel make an extremely bad joke and glancing at Percy every so often.  He looks relaxed, she thinks to herself, the most relaxed she’s seen him besides when he’s in the water.  She finishes her taco and sees that there’s a drop of salsa on her finger, so she licks it off and glances up when she hears a loud clank from the kitchen. Hazel has disappeared, presumably to pick up whatever she knocked over (or out the back door to join Leo with more metal scraps, Annabeth isn’t quite sure, as she lost track of the conversation because the flavors of that taco had absolutely consumed her), and out of the corner of her eye Annabeth sees that Percy’s eyes are boring into her, more stormy than she’s ever seen them.  She spots a bit of sour cream on her plate with a piece of shredded cheese hanging on, so she swoops it up with her finger and eats it, just to savor the goodness, and as she flicks her gaze back to him she swears his eyes darken even more.

He blinks and his eyes are sea-green again when he gestures to her plate and says, “So I guess you weren’t hungry.”

She looks at her very clean plate and shrugs.  “The deliciousness factor overcame my brain.”

“And here I was thinking that nothing could do that.”  He smirks, and she smacks his arm with a smile.

“Shut up, Percy.”

 

At the end of the day Percy climbs down from his chair and meanders over to Annabeth’s.  He’s tried to push the memory of her licking the extra taco stuffing off her fingers to the back of his brain all afternoon, and it hasn’t quite worked, but seeing her glaring at her phone again does the trick for now.  “Still frowning at your phone?”  She looks up at him and rolls her eyes, a small smile on her lips.  “It’s like my distraction didn’t even work!”  She puts her phone down and stretches out her shoulders.

“No, no, it did, don’t worry,” she answers.

“But not anymore,” he responds.  She doesn’t fire back, instead tucking her book into her backpack and folding up her towel.  “Well, I remembered something that will make you laugh.”  She turns to face him, crossing her arms.  “Tell me then.”

“I mentioned my stepdad earlier, right?”  She nods and he continues.  “Well, his name's Paul Blofis, and when my friend Tyson took his English class he didn’t hear ‘Mr. Blofis’ right, so he proceeded to call him Mr. Blowfish for the next two years.”  He grins at her and his heart lifts when Annabeth bursts out laughing.

“That’s so great,” she says, still giggling.  

He runs a hand through his hair.  “I thought you would appreciate that.  I have to go see Reyna, my boss, for a bit before we can start laps, so can you wait like 5 minutes?”  She smiles.

“Of course.”  

“Be right back!”  He waves and jogs off towards the office.

As he walks out after confirming his hours with Reyna, the timer swinging from his hand, he sees Piper heading towards Annabeth, who is sitting on her chair with her book, the rest of her stuff packed up in her bag.  He jogs towards them, getting there just in time to hear Piper say, “I’m sorry, but you do need to leave; the pool closed ten minutes ago.”  

“Pipes!” He calls, slowing to a walk.  She turns and smirks at him, nodding towards Annabeth with her head.  

“Hey, Jackson.  You wanna remind me of the pool hours?”

He reaches the two of them and holds out the timer to Annabeth.  “Nah, I know you know them.  But she’s okay, Pipes, she’s with me.”  Annabeth glances at him and back to Piper.

“That’s what I was trying to tell you,” she says, glaring slightly and taking the timer from Percy.  Piper has the smarts to look sheepish.

“I’m so sorry…”  

“Annabeth,” she supplies.  “I’m Annabeth.”  She holds out her hand to Piper, and Piper shakes, to Percy’s surprise.  

“Piper.”  She grins suddenly, and Percy does not like the look in her eyes.  “So why are you hanging out with Percy I-swim-so-much-I’m-practically-a-fish Jackson?  Didn’t think he had any other friends.”  Annabeth chokes a little and Percy glares at Piper.  

“Shove off, McLean,” he snaps.

She grins at him.  “You’re a dork and you know it.  Alrighty, seeing as he’s got you covered,” she nods at Annabeth, “I’m going to head home.  See you around!”  Piper waves and walks away, her pink flip-flops loud in the relative silence of the pool area.

The two of them walk over to the lap lane.  “She’s… interesting,” Annabeth says as they reach the edge of the pool.  Percy smirks and pulls his tank over his head, tossing it on a nearby chair.  

“Yeah, but once you get to know her it’s better.  Pipes is sassy and strong, but she’s got a real heart of gold.”  He grins at Annabeth.  “You ready?”

She nods, not entirely meeting his gaze, and he notices briefly that her face is slightly flushed and her eyes are a darker gray than usual before he dives in.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yeah... are you picking up on my attempts at subtlety?  
> I'm not quite sure if I want this to be a slow burn or not but I guess it'll happen how it happens.  
> also i'm so sorry about name-dropping all of my favorite books (not really)  
> all the love  
> ~ fangirloftoomany


	3. stars in the sea

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Annabeth's birthday sneaks up on her because she's too distracted thinking about a certain dark haired boy.

Over the next few weeks, everything Percy does sends a shot of heat through Annabeth.  She can’t help but watch him instead of reading, which really isn’t good for her focus, and Thalia isn’t helping by showing her news articles about PERCY JACKSON at the national swimming and diving championships and college photos of him in a Speedo every night.  She keeps it buried every time she talks to him, covering up her attraction with loads of snark and teasing jabs, but whenever he says something silly that makes her burst out laughing she knows she can’t hide it forever.  

She tries to distract herself by talking to Piper, who approaches her the day after she scolded Annabeth with a laugh and a “Maybe we should start over, forget yesterday ever happened.”  They quickly start chatting every day, giggling about school and boys and work, and Annabeth finds herself sandwiched between Piper and Percy during their lunch break more often than not, laughing at Leo’s kitchen antics and Hazel’s attempts to subdue him.  Percy mentions offhandedly that they’re both still in high school while talking with Piper about how best to set up Hazel and Frank, which gives Annabeth a bit of relief (she’s slightly surprised at the feeling, she didn’t think she was jealous of Hazel).  She meets Reyna, the head lifeguard, at one of these lunches, when Reyna slings an arm around Piper before sitting down and joining them in teasing Percy, and takes an instant liking to her.  She also notices how Piper leans into Reyna, further freeing up Percy, and she needs to _stop thinking about him and his availability so much_.

She meets the rest of the counselors and lifeguards slowly but surely.  They come over during their lunch breaks to their usual table, and Percy and Piper take turns introducing her.  She immediately likes Frank and Jason, and she sees that Nico, who’s basically Jason’s shadow, is slowly warming up to everyone - and that Percy’s sweet, shy friend Will has a hand in that, so she just smiles and says hi whenever he’s there.  Every single person she meets is great, and Percy laughs and jokes with them all - and they all seem to respect him, which is most definitely not helping her stop thinking about him.

She still stays and times him after hours, watching him run through drill after drill and high-fiving whenever he beats his previous time.  It’s too much fun to give up, and she doesn’t want to ever stop seeing him shirtless.  They crack jokes at each other for most of it but Annabeth tells him to refocus and get back in the pool when he spends more than five minutes making excuses.  It’s a good friendship _that she is NOT going to ruin_ , she thinks, and she’s glad she decided to come to the pool at the beginning of the summer.  

 

The pool is closed during the Fourth of July weekend, and Percy watches the fireworks from the beach with his mom and stepdad, giving them both huge hugs when Sally tells him she’s pregnant, but still wishing he had invited Annabeth.

 

Annabeth watches the fireworks in the city.  She stands next to her dad, because he’s _trying_ and she does appreciate that, but her stepmom still looks at her funny and her little brothers are causing a ruckus that ruins the beauty of the moment.  She wishes Percy was here with her.

 

The week after the Fourth is perfectly normal up until her phone starts ringing during her lunch with Percy, Piper, and Reyna on Thursday.  She picks it up and grins, hitting ‘Answer’ as she stands up from the table and starts to head over to an empty seat.  “Hi, Thalia,” she says as her best friend’s face fills her screen and she reaches her chair, far enough away that she doesn’t think her new friends will hear.

“Happy early birthday!” Thalia screeches, smiling madly at her.  “I can’t talk to you tomorrow, Artemis is making all of us go on a ‘band bonding trip’ for the weekend, so I thought I would call you today.”  Annabeth grins even wider.

“Thanks, Thalia.  ‘Band bonding,’ huh?”  Thalia rolls her eyes.

“It either means camping… again… or male strippers.  I’m hoping for the strippers.”  At that Annabeth laughs out loud.

“But I thought you liked camping!” She replies.

Thalia grimaces.  “Not when I have to share a tent with Phoebe every time.  She drums on everything - it’s practically impossible to get to sleep.”  Annabeth giggles again.  

“Come on, Thalia, Phoebe’s not that bad.  I bet she makes you her special hot chocolate every morning.”

“Yeah, alright, that is a perk.  The _only_ perk, may I add.”  Thalia shakes her head at Annabeth.  “Now, miss birthday girl, you’re gonna be 21 tomorrow.  Please tell me you’re doing something fun.”

Annabeth shrugs.  “I don’t have anything special planned.  I think my dad might take me to dinner.”  Thalia glares at her and groans.

“Really, Annabeth?  Your birthday plans are a maybe dinner with Frederick?”  Thalia’s tone gets louder with every word.  Annabeth shrugs again and is about to respond when a heavy arm is slung across her shoulders.

“What’s this I hear about birthday plans?” Percy says, grinning down at her from her right.  Piper is directly behind him, mouthing “Birthday?  BIRTHDAY????!!!”

Annabeth looks away from Thalia on her phone and smiles at Percy and Piper.  “Yeah, my birthday’s tomorrow, and this asshole-” she shakes her phone to indicate Thalia, who has slightly wide eyes “-is giving me shit because I don’t have specific plans.”  Piper sidles up to her, on the opposite side of where Percy still is, but once she gets a good look at the face on Annabeth’s phone, she freezes.  

“Annabeth,” she says, staring at Thalia, “why are you calling the lead guitarist of The Hunters an asshole?”

Thalia grins.  “Oh, I like this one.”

“Shut up, Thalia,” Annabeth says.  “I’ve known her since I was seven,” she explains to Piper.  “And I didn’t know you liked The Hunters.”  Piper grins.

“They’re one of my favorite bands.  I love ‘Ode to Orion’, it’s my favorite song off _Moon and the Stars_ ,” she calls.  Thalia shoots her a thumbs-up.  Annabeth glares at her phone.

“Come on, Annabeth, introduce me around,” Thalia says, shooting her puppy eyes.  Annabeth sighs.

“Fine.”  She turns her phone to face Piper.  “This is Piper, who is still freaking out.  Piper, Thalia.”  Piper nods, eyes wide as can be, before summoning her back to the table as she jogs over to Reyna.  Annabeth starts walking while pointing her camera at Percy.  “And this is Percy.”  Thalia raises her eyebrows.  “Percy, meet my best friend Thalia.”  Percy glances at her and then back at the phone.

“You wouldn’t by chance be the friend that Internet-stalks people?” he asks.  Annabeth elbows him just hard enough that he removes his arm from where it still was on her shoulders (wow, she didn’t realize he had left it there for that long) and covers his ribs.  Thalia nods slowly, glancing between the two of them.  “You know, she doesn’t like that you do that,” he comments, his tone nowhere near as friendly as she’s come to expect.  Thalia smirks at him.

“I know.”  Her eyes light up with the fervor of a challenge, and Annabeth seizes the moment and turns her phone away from Percy before either of them say something stupid.  “This is Reyna,” she says, because they’ve reached the table, and Thalia blinks before waving.  “And Leo and Hazel,” Annabeth finished, pointing Thalia at the cafe counter where they’re both sitting.  Hazel sends her a bright grin and a wave, and Leo’s mouth kind of falls open.

“You’re smoking,” he says point-blank to Thalia, who just shakes her head at him and replies, “You’re scrawny.”  “Scrawny is the new sexy!” he exclaims, which sends Piper, Hazel, and Reyna into giggles.   _It most certainly isn’t_ , Annabeth thinks, as she cuts her eyes toward Percy’s defined physique.  Thalia’s eyes narrow and Annabeth’s phone lets out a ping.  

_T:  I saw that._

Annabeth turns pink and closes her texts.  Thalia just grins and Annabeth wants to punch her.

“So,” Piper says, looking pretty much recovered from meeting Thalia, “I find it unacceptable that you have no birthday plans, Annabeth.”  Annabeth whips around to face Piper.

“I really like her,” Thalia says loudly.  Piper smiles.

“My beach house is empty this weekend, my dad’s in California for work.  What do you say we have a weekend getaway to celebrate?”  Annabeth gapes at her, Thalia forgotten for a moment.  

“Are you serious?”

Piper nods.  “Yeah.  You deserve it.”  Annabeth can’t stop staring at her in shock.  “None of us have known you that long,” Piper continues, “but I feel like I’ve known you forever.  You fit right in with the group -” There are a series of nods around the table and a cheer from Leo.  “- and you’re a really cool person.  So yeah, we’re your friends and we want to celebrate your birthday with you.”

Annabeth feels herself tearing up slightly.  The last time she had friends like this was when she, Thalia, and Luke were still tearing up Richmond together over ten years ago.  And her gut is telling her that none of these people will abandon her like he did.  “R-really?”  Piper nods again, grinning.

“Annabeth Chase, if you do not say yes I will haunt you forever.”  Thalia’s growl rings out and Annabeth blinks away her tears to laugh.  

“Thalia, be quiet.  Yes, Piper,” she says, “that sounds great.”  Pipers whoops and scoops her into a hug.  

“This is going to be awesome!”  She lets go of Annabeth and looks at the group.  “You’re all invited, of course.”  Annabeth smiles at everyone, even Thalia, who’s silently giggling on her screen and gives Annabeth a thumbs-up and a wink before hitting ‘End Call’.    

“Let’s invite Frank and Jason as well.  And why not have Nico and Will come too?”  She says as she pockets her phone.

Reyna, to Annabeth’s surprise, stands and grins.  “That sounds like a plan.”  She gives Annabeth a quick hug.

“Can I bring Calypso?” Leo yells.  “I want you guys to meet her.”  Piper and Annabeth lock eyes and shrug together.

“The more the merrier!” Annabeth answers, and Leo punches the air.  

When Will comes in for his afternoon shift and the camp counselors show up, they pitch the idea, and everyone immediately agrees to come.  They decide to all meet at the pool at closing on Friday, so they can spend the whole weekend at Piper’s.  Reyna calls the manager, Mr. Chiron, to make sure she, Percy, Piper, Will, Hazel, and Leo can take Saturday off, and he agrees as long as they get coverage, so Percy calls his friend Rachel to cover for Piper and gets Tyson to cover his shift, Will hands his responsibilities over to a short but buff kid named Michael, and Piper gets Lacey to cover for Hazel and Lacey’s friend Mitchell to work the kitchen for Leo.  Jason calls the head of camp to clear vacation days for him, Frank, and Nico, and while he’s talking to who he calls “Coach” Leo whispers “Let’s hope Eisenhower lets them off” to Annabeth.  When she looks at him questioningly he just gestures to Jason’s cell, which he’s holding away from his ear as a loud, gruff voice comes roaring through.  

Once Jason puts his phone away and gives Piper a thumbs-up, Annabeth smiles.  She heads back to her chair, content to while away the afternoon on a cloud of happiness.  She pulls out her headphones and pushes them in her ears, letting The Hunters’ new album wash over her.

 

Before he knows it, the pool is closing. Percy gets down from his chair, grabs a timer, and goes to stand in front of Annabeth’s chair.  She grins up at him and pulls her headphones out before standing up and taking the timer.  “What’s the goal for today?” she asks, letting him follow her to his usual lap lane.  He pulls off his tank and tosses it to the cement.

“Well,” he starts, stretching his shoulders, “I have to make today decent to make up for no weekend, so I think -”  He sees her slip on a puddle, because she was absorbed in the beautiful day and not watching the ground like she usually does, and without even thinking about it he grabs her and pulls her upright against his chest before she can fall.  She’s a little shell-shocked, and this close up he can see the different shades of her hair and the flecks of different grays in her eyes and the subtle color of her lips.  “Are you okay?” he says softly, still holding her around the middle.  Her body is warm and soft against his and it takes all of his self-control not to just kiss her right now and instead meet her gaze.  She blinks slowly up at him.

“I- I’m fine.”  She swallows and goes to untangle herself from him, and he lets her, and when she steps out of his arms his body is instantly cold.  “Thank you,” she says gently.  He flashes her a grin and says, “You’re welcome,” before diving in.

His times are shit, and Annabeth frowns at the clock every time before showing him.  He knows he needs to focus, but he can’t stop thinking about how she felt against him and how gray her eyes are and how she looked like she was going to cry when Piper suggested the party and how she didn’t stop smiling the rest of the day and how the sun catches her hair and the color of her lips and-

His hand smacks the lane line and it’s all he can do to not yell out as he keeps going.  He hasn’t done that since he was about sixteen, and _damn_ he’s forgotten how much it hurts.  He gets to the end of his set and hoists himself out of the pool to sit on the edge, ignoring Annabeth’s worried glance.  The side and back of his hand is red, with white marks where the discs hit.  He grimaces as he shakes it out and stares aimlessly at the opposite end of the pool.  A small ‘splash-splash’ makes his eyes drop to the pool, where there are two feet dangling in the water next to him.  He looks to his left to see Annabeth sitting there, watching him.

She meets his gaze and says quietly, “Are you alright?”  Percy shrugs in response.  He can’t really tell her why he’s so distracted, and his hand doesn’t hurt as much anymore but his crap times are weighing on him.  “Hey.”  He looks at her again.  “It’s alright to have an off day.  Gods know I have them all the time,” she says.  “You just can’t let it consume you.”  He nods.  “You’re going to be fine, alright?  You’re the best swimmer I’ve ever seen, Percy,” she continues.   He cracks a small smile at that.

“I’m the only swimmer you’ve ever seen,” he quips lightly, glancing at her.  She narrows her eyes at him and tucks her head to watch her feet play in the water.  

“I’m trying to make you feel better, Seaweed Brain, so shut up and take my advice,” she gripes.

He gapes at her.  “Seaweed Brain?”  The incredulity creeps into his voice, making his tone rise a lot more than usual.  

She raises her head and frowns at him.  “Yes, Seaweed Brain.  Considering you’re practically a fish and you’re a marine bio major and you’re being a complete idiot!” She smacks his arm on the last word, not hard enough to actually hurt but it does give him a little sting.  

“I’m going to get you for that,” he racks his brain for a moment, “Wise Girl.”   _That’s not nearly as good_ , he thinks, and when Annabeth echoes his thoughts it renders him speechless.  She smirks at him before getting up and tossing him his towel.

“Get some rest.  I’ll see you tomorrow, ‘kay?” she says as she grabs her bags.

“Yeah.  See ya, Wise Girl.”  Annabeth flips him off as she walks away and Percy grins.  This girl is going to be the death of him.  

 

It feels like he blinks and Friday is gone.  He’s been jittery all day, and he snips at Piper when she comments on it when they’re getting their stuff from the lifeguard office as the last stragglers trickle out of the pool.

“Jeez, Perce, didn’t mean to step on your toes,” she snaps back, glaring at him.  He winces.

“Sorry, Piper.”

Her glare disappears as something dawns in her head, and then Percy is _very_ afraid of the way she is looking at him.  He’s never had her matchmaking/plotting/bad-idea face directed at him before, and it’s more than slightly scary.  She grins at the look on his face.

“You liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike her, don’t you?”

He feels himself flush and tucks his head back into his locker to avoid the question and indirectly give Piper her answer.  The outburst of laughter from her direction is response enough.

“Shut up, Pipes.  I’d like to be the one that tells her, thank you very much.”  She sobers.

“I would never do that to you, Percy.”  He glances around his locker door to see her watching him earnestly.  

“Thanks, Piper.”  He gives her a small smile and runs a hand through his hair.  “Think she’ll like my present?”

Piper snorts.  “A collection of essays by the world’s most renowned architects?  And a book on the history of architecture in Greece?  No, Perce, she’s gonna hate it,” she deadpans.  He throws a balled-up shirt at her.  

They walk out of the office together, Piper still giggling, and meet the others by the front gates.  There’s eleven of them all together:  him, Piper, Reyna (who’s tossing her minivan keys and tapping her foot but smirks and shakes her head when she catches sight of them), Nico, Will, Leo and his girlfriend Calypso (who looks eerily similar to Percy’s ex from freshman year of college), Hazel, Frank, Jason, and of course Annabeth.  “Who’s coming in the fun car?” he asks as he unlocks his Prius (handed down to him from Paul, who never told him the story behind the dents in the hood even though he had promised that he would when Percy turned twenty).  Six hands shoot up and he grimaces, looking at whose hands they are.  “I can only fit four, guys.  Annabeth, as this is your celebration--” he grins at her and he swears her cheeks are pink “-- you can have shotgun.”  Leo groans.

“I was gonna call it!”  Percy shrugs, grinning at Leo.  

“There is another car….”

“REYNA!  I CALL SHOTGUN!”  he yells.  Reyna rolls her eyes.

“Fine.”

“Yes!”  Leo drags Calypso over to the minivan group.  Percy laughs at the exasperated expression on Reyna’s face before turning to the three remaining hands.

“Well, I got room for all of you now.”  Jason grins and high-fives him.  

“This is gonna be awesome.  But,” he glances at Frank, “Hazel should probably take the middle seat.”

Percy nods in agreement.  “Fine by me!” Hazel chirps, and they load all their stuff in his trunk before squishing in his car.  Frank ends up behind him, Hazel in the middle, and Jason is squeezed behind Annabeth, who has already reclined her seat to stretch out her long, tan legs, legs that Percy hasn’t been able to get out of his head.  

“Can you move your seat up?”  Jason asks her.

“No.”

He shifts onto Hazel, giving her puppy-dog eyes via the rearview mirror, and Annabeth laughs at him and Hazel’s fake-pained expression before moving her seat.  Percy starts his car, huge grin on his face, and follows Reyna out of the parking lot.

The radio keeps them company as they wind their way through the streets to the highway, but the commercials start to grate so he shuts it off.  “Anyone have a good road playlist?  The AUX cord is hiding back there somewhere.”  Annabeth’s eyes shoot open from her resting position against the window.  

“I got it.”  Hazel whoops as she digs behind Percy’s seat for the plug before passing it to Annabeth.

She plugs her phone in and Percy is pleasantly surprised when the “Jungle” remix comes on.  “I love this song!” he says and catches Annabeth’s grin out of the corner of his eye.  The car rocks with music as they zip down the highway, everyone singing along when their favorites play.  They all belt out “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “London Bridge” (Frank is very red-faced by the end of that one), and Jason surprises them all with a very good Steven Tyler impression when “Sweet Emotion” blasts through the speakers.

When they turn off the highway, Annabeth switches playlists, and Percy is surprised by how much of her music he likes.  The songs are slower on this one, but still great driving songs - he especially likes “Fall Together” and “Follow You”.  Percy recognizes the road he’s driving on right when the first notes of “Dream On” echo through the car.  It’s a fitting final song for the road trip, and everyone is jamming out when he turns into Piper’s driveway and parks next to Reyna.

The sun had set during the drive, and the stars are out in full force.  Percy gets out of the car, stretches, and opens everyone’s doors.  Annabeth gets out and looks up in wonder, and he can see the stars reflected in her grey eyes.  She makes for a beautiful sight, gazing up at the night sky with the waves lapping the shore behind her.  Piper elbows Percy in the side and whispers, “You’re staring,” before slinging an arm around Annabeth and turning her to the house.  Annabeth’s jaw drops and Percy knows the feeling (he’s pretty sure he reacted the same way the first time Piper brought him out here). Piper sees the look on her faces and grins wildly.  “Wait til you see the inside,” she says, and jogs back to Reyna’s van to grab her duffel and unlock the house door.  Percy pops his trunk and Jason and Frank immediately grab their bags. Percy pulls Annabeth’s small suitcase out and hands it to her before grabbing his ratty duffel emblazoned with “Leviathan Swimming” and closing the trunk.  He and Reyna lock their cars and everyone troops inside, ready for some dinner.

 

After they all stuff themselves with thrown-together sandwiches, chips, an unreasonable amount of soda, and Percy’s blue chocolate chip cookies, everyone disperses.  Piper takes Annabeth on a tour of the house, and she has to physically drag her away from the books on the coffee table.  “Piper,” Annabeth groans, trying to shake her off, “just let me read _two_ of Mendini’s essays.”  

“No.”

“Come oooooon, Pipes.”

“You can do that later.”  Piper grins at her.  “I haven’t shown you the patio yet.”

Annabeth follows her out the sliding door in the back of the living room and gasps at the view.  The beach stretches out in front of her until it meets the water, and she honestly has no words for how beautiful it is.  The patio is nicely tiled, there are gorgeous white wicker chairs and a sofa with cute blue and gray cushions, and it fits so well with the rest of the house and its environment that Annabeth wants to write down everything about its design.  “It’s gorgeous, Piper,” she manages.

Her friend giggles and nudges her with her elbow.  “I knew you would appreciate it, architecture and design nerd that you are.”  Annabeth laughs at that and elbows Piper back before lapsing into comfortable silence.

Piper yawns after a bit.  “I’m going to head to bed, okay?  You remember how to get to your room?”

Annabeth nods.  “Yup.  See you in the A.M.?”

“Of course.”  Piper gives Annabeth a quick hug and disappears inside the house.  

Annabeth turns back towards the beach and rests her arms on the railing, taking in the peacefulness of the ocean and the twinkling stars above, and after a while she spots a figure walking along the beach.  It turns at the path where the steps are that lead to the patio, and as it comes closer to the light she recognizes Percy.

“You gave me a bit of a fright, Seaweed Brain,” she calls, and he jerks upright before his eyes catch on her standing at the edge of the patio.  His answering smirk lights up his face.

“Sorry, Wise Girl.  Didn’t know anyone else was out here this late.”

“It’s late?” she asks as he joins her at the railing.

“Yeah,” he answers as he checks his watch, “it’s a little after eleven.”

She shrugs.  “I didn’t realize.  Piper gave me a tour and then it was so peaceful right here that I just stayed while she headed to bed.”

Percy grins.  “And that didn’t give you a hint about the time?”

Annabeth giggles at that.  “Yeah, okay, I’ll take that.”  She stretches and plops herself on one end of the small sofa.  “Why are you out this late, then?”

He turns back to look at the ocean.  “I just wanted some air.  And salt water always helps clear my head.”

“I see.”  They’re both silent for a while, Annabeth watching Percy look out over the water.  “Do you wanna talk about it?” she asks quietly.

He looks at her, confused for a second, then grins again.  “Oh, no, Wise Girl, nothing like that.  I’m totally okay.  I was just thinking about school, and I guess being out by the ocean helped me destress a bit.”  

Annabeth pats the cushion next to her.  “Come on, Percy.”  She shoots him a smirk of her own.  “Tell me all about school stress.”

He sits and they start talking.  They both laugh over their ridiculous school mascots - “Strigidae College Owls is literally Owls Owls, at least you have two different sea monsters,” Annabeth grumbles when he complains about his team being the Leviathan University Krakens -, their wacky history professors - “Dr. Brenner used to do trivia tournaments in my Ancient Rome class and lead them with a real sword,” Percy tells her after she recounts how crazy about Artemis Professor Nightshade is -, and the piles of homework that they get.  Annabeth listens to Percy gush about one of his marine bio professors who works mainly with whales and other large aquatic species, and when he asks her about her favorite architecture class, she swears she talks for twenty minutes about Professor Quintus and his amazing ideas.

She ends up showing him photos of all the artifacts Professor Argus had brought in to one of her ancient art classes.  He pulls out his phone after she reaches the end and they scroll through all of the photos of his aquarium internship that he did in the fall.  Annabeth is giggling over an especially silly shot of Percy with a dark grey dolphin he says he nicknamed Blackjack when she realizes his arm is around her.  She swallows to try and control her blush and looks on as he swipes to a photo of him high-fiving a tall dark-skinned guy with a rasta cap and a wild-looking goatee.  “That’s Grover, my best friend from school - we roomed together freshman year.  He’s an environmental science major, wants to save the planet,” he says, smiling at his phone.  

“He sounds awesome,” Annabeth replies, resting her head on his shoulder.  Her energy is quickly disappearing.  Percy looks down at her and smiles gently.

“You should get some sleep.”  Annabeth nods and mumbles “Mm-hm” and they both get up to go back inside.  Percy’s arm stays around her shoulders until they reach her room, behind the living room and close to both the kitchen and the stairs.  He drops his arm suddenly as they get closer to her door.

She stops in front of her closed door and looks up at him, fiddling with her phone because she’s suddenly tongue-tied and a million butterflies show up in her stomach.  “I had a really nice time talking, Percy,” she gets out, then turns the door handle with her clammy left hand and opens it slightly.  He shoves his hands in his pockets.

“Me too.”  His voice is lower than it was outside, and Annabeth swallows.  Her eyes catch on his lips then dart up to meet his gaze again, and before she loses her nerve she quickly kisses him on the cheek.

 

Percy stares at her.  She doesn’t move.  Her cheeks are very pink now, and she looks at his lips again before bringing her grey eyes back up to his.  He knows how to read signals.   _Fuck it_ , he thinks, and he leans down and kisses her.

 

Annabeth stiffens in surprise for a millisecond and then her arms wrap around Percy’s neck, her phone clattering to the ground as she holds on to him instead.  His lips are warm and soft and they feel so nice against hers that she forgets about her exhaustion and kisses him back.  They move into her room and somehow her door closes, she thinks Percy kicks it shut but she’s not sure, all she can think about is his lips on hers and the way his body feels pressed against hers and how soft his hair is as she winds her fingers through it.  His knees hit the side of her bed and he sits, pulling her closer, and she smiles into the kiss.  Her neck was starting to hurt from craning up to meet him.  He shifts and moves her between his legs so their bodies are flush against each other, she still standing.  She moves her hands down his back, getting more confident, feeling all of his muscles flex and shift as he runs his hands down her sides and rests them on her lower back.  His warmth seeps through her shirt and she sighs a little.

Percy’s hands drift even lower and she tenses before pulling away slightly.  He shifts his hands back to her lower back and opens his eyes, looking up at her from his seat on her bed.  

“We’ll go as slow as you want, Annabeth,” he says.  She swallows as she sees the sincerity in his gaze.  

“Okay,” she responds.  He smiles at her and runs a hand through his hair before using it to pull her in for another searing kiss.  Annabeth loses herself in Percy - his lips alternate between soft caresses and harder, more insistent kisses that make her clutch at his neck and try to pull him closer.  He kisses her neck, right on her pulse point, and she can’t help the gasp that escapes her before she brings his mouth back to hers.  She’s not sure how long they kiss - her brain has apparently lost the ability to tell time - but a rational thought shoves its way to the front of her mind after a while.  She breaks the kiss and leans her forehead against his, opening her eyes to see his well-defined chest covered in his navy t-shirt, and catches her breath.  Percy is breathing just as hard as she is, and as his sea-green eyes open, Annabeth leans back slightly so she doesn’t get lost in them again.  

“I have to go to bed,” she whispers, because her traitorous body (and half her brain)  is screaming at her to let him stay and do whatever he wants to her, but she knows that she is really not ready for that.  He looks slightly taken aback, but replies, “Okay,” anyway.   She watches him as he gets up and heads for the door.  

“I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?” she blurts.  He turns and meets her eyes.  She blushes at the heat of his gaze, and suddenly he’s standing in front of her, pressing his lips to hers once more.  

“Sounds good,” he says, smiling.  “Happy birthday, Annabeth,” he adds after looking at his watch, and then he walks out.

She sits down on her bed, her legs giving out, and presses a hand to her lips before checking the time.  12:37 am.  That is not a birthday present she’ll soon forget.

 

Percy and Annabeth start officially dating the very next day.  Annabeth has never been happier, even though Piper and Leo both tease her constantly about the honeymoon stage.  The entire group makes a bonfire on Sunday night before driving back, and it’s full of silly old camp songs they all teach each other and gooey marshmallows and melting chocolate and laughter, and honestly she doesn’t know how she survived without friends like this.

They spend a few other weekends up at Piper’s, either as a whole group or on double dates with her and Reyna, and Annabeth is surprised to find she’s only at home to grab food or to sleep.

They celebrate Percy’s birthday in August with another beach house trip, but this time they spend the whole weekend playing games in the ocean and throwing sand at each other and basically being rambunctious.  (Leo loves games like that, and he actually invents ‘sand-bombs’ for a real-life game of beach Minesweeper that Annabeth and Frank somehow manage to defeat together, much to his chagrin.  Percy finds it hilarious.)

At the end of August, Chiron lets them take over the pool after-hours for their final night together before everyone leaves to go back to their respective colleges.  They fondly reminisce about their adventures and Hazel takes it upon herself to create amazing wall puppet retellings with Jason narrating - which everyone thinks is great.  Annabeth is so happy she can’t fathom it.  She knows she’s not going to see most of them for a good long while, but that’s why people invented social media, Skype, and FaceTime.  Everyone has exchanged contact info by now, and she’s already promised Piper a more extensive introduction to Thalia, among other things.

Annabeth looks around at her friends, smushed around a table while Leo dances around the kitchen making something that smells delicious, and grins.  These are friends that she knows she’ll have for life.  Percy, next to her, nudges her elbow.  She turns to him and grins harder.  He kisses her forehead and slings an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him.  

So, Annabeth muses, she’s got a great boyfriend and an amazing group of friends.

And to think it all started with her going to the pool for a change of scenery and admiring the cute lifeguard that was working that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's done. holy crap.  
> thank you to everyone who left kudos here and everyone who liked and reblogged on tumblr. i would have never finished if it weren't for you.  
> thank you, uncle rick, for creating these two dorks and their friends. i have enjoyed reworking them.  
> i still can't believe i finished this?! and i like how it turned out?! excuse my amazement please.  
> but really. thank you for reading this. it means the world to me.  
> all the love  
> ~ fangirloftoomany
> 
> ps. soundtrack: fall together by the temper trap, jungle remix by x ambassadors ft jay z, follow you by bring me the horizon, bohemian rhapsody by queen, sweet emotion and dream on by aerosmith, london bridge by fergie. FALL TOGETHER AND FOLLOW YOU ARE MY PERCABETH SONGS.  
> pps. if you understood that reference shoot me a message on tumblr @fangirloftoomany :D


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